My friend’s visit from Wyoming was followed by another friend’s visit from Nebraska. She has the book where she can collect stamps from all the National Parks and so we decided on a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. We checked out Bear Lake and then, having never seen a waterfall before, my friend wanted to do the hike to Alberta Falls. A hiking lover, I was game.

My hiking pace isn’t too fast and my friend was having some trouble with the lack of air in Colorado so the hike I anticipated taking an hour took two. Even with our car snacks, we were starving after our visit to the Falls. My family is used to my vegan lifestyle by now and Mexican Restaurants top the list of food choices. My Mom had seen a restaurant when we’d first entered Estes Park and as my non-vegan friend said she was okay with cheesy-beany, we went in search and found Peppers.

Peppers is a bit difficult to get into: my family and I had to drive into the Safeway parking lot and come at it from the other side. The restaurant looks unassuming and I didn’t know what to expect. Fast food can be iffy but I knew that, at least, I would find beans.

Peppers was a pleasant surprise. If you’ve been in a Qdoba or Chipotle, you’ll be familiar with the set-up. There’s a bar filled with fresh ingredients and you can go down the line and choose what you want. I ordered the Veggie Burrito from the menu and asked for the cheese and sour cream to be left off. Peppers was the first restaurant that allowed me to have an extra at no charge because I was leaving off cheese and sour cream. I chose the mango salsa and I highly recommend it.

My burrito was so large it had to be double wrapped and eaten with a knife and fork. I wasn’t sure how I felt about sweet potato in my burrito but Peppers has made me a convert. The sweet is off set with the slightly smoky rice and spicy salsa. I could choose very hot, medium hot, or mild and medium hot was plenty for me.

I ordered chips and salsa as well, having no idea the burrito was going to be as large as it was. The chips were lightly salted and the order came with two choices of salsa. I chose another small tub of the medium hot and thought I’d try the corn salsa. The corn was sweet and a perfect texture: no mushy salsa at Peppers.

I was able to recommend Peppers as I left the restaurant. A family was crossing the parking lot as mine left and they called to us, asking what we thought. I tell you the same thing I told them: Peppers is excellent. If you find yourself in Estes Park, CO, stop in. If you try the margaritas, let me know what you think.